Spring 2014 Class Descriptions

Students gain practical experience through interviewing, counseling, and representing clients with immigration-related problems. Students complete forms and draft documents on behalf of clients. Students also attend and/or participate at hearings at Immigration Court. Weekly meetings are held with the clinic supervisor to discuss immigration law, practical application and casework. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. No Prerequisites.

1-4 credit(s)Requirement: SkillsConcentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)Prerequisite(s): Immigration Clinic I

Students gain practical experience through interviewing, counseling, and representing clients with immigration-related problems. Students complete forms and draft documents on behalf of clients. Students also attend and/or participate at hearings at Immigration Court. Weekly meetings are held with the clinic supervisor to discuss immigration law, practical application and casework. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis.

3 credit(s)Concentration(s): LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (LLMC), Public Interest Law (JD), International Law (JD), International Law (MSLS)

Why and how did the regulation of immigration begin? What maze of federal law and regulations, agencies, courts, “official” memos and constitutional law control outcomes? What does it mean to be a citizen? Should citizenship emanate from parentage, location of birth, or express consent? US companies import thousands of workers annually and immigration is interwoven into commerce, recruiting and HR. Companies that poorly manage immigration lose competitiveness and risk penalties. Abercrombie & Fitch was fined more than $1 million in 2010 for I-9 violations and in 2011 public schools in Prince George’s County Maryland paid $4.2 million for improperly calculating H-1B wages. Immigration laws both separate and reunite families. President Obama deported more foreign nationals in one term than any other US President, but also used extraordinary power to offer deferred action and work authorization to possibly more than one million undocumented young people. And international crises and politics drive the migration of refugees and asylees.
This general immigration course will briefly survey the history of immigration law and introduce basic concepts, agency organization and jurisdiction. This course will explore five principal areas: (1) citizenship, (2) business immigration, (3) family immigration, (4) relief from removal and waivers, and (5) asylum and refugee law. Grades will be based on a midterm and final exam.

The federal income taxation of trusts, estates, and their beneficiaries; distributable net income; distribution deductions for simple and complex trusts and estates; grantor trusts; income in respect of a decedent; and throwback rules. Prerequisites: Both Tax I and T&E: Wills & Trusts. This is an advanced tax course with priority enrollment for LLM in Taxation students.

This course places students at local law firms to provide legal assistance to a wide variety of technology companies, independent inventors, artists, musicians, and others in need of pro bono IP work in the areas of patent and trademark prosecution as well as licensing and litigation in all IP fields. Students will be supervised by attorneys at local law firms as well as the professors. The course will begin with 5-6 weeks of class sessions covering the core types of transactions encountered in technology startups. There are no scheduled classes during the remainder of the semester; instead, students will work with clients and supervising lawyers each week, and meet one-on-one with the professors on a regular basis. An application process will be used to select students for the course. Students may only begin the course in the fall semester, and may continue in the spring semester, but are not required to do so. Interested students may also apply to both the Technology Entrepreneurship Clinic, but will be selected for only one clinic.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Intellectual Property Concentration web page for more information. Email lawstudentaffairs@sandiego.edu to see if your work qualifies.Additional Information:Intellectual Property Concentration

The IP Law Speaker Series will feature five distinguished speakers, typically leading academics, during the semester. The speakers will address a variety of topics in patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law. Students participating in this course must attend all five speaker sessions, which will be Thursday, from 4:30-6:30 pm, on Jan. 30, Feb. 13, Feb. 20, Mar. 6, and Apr. 3 . Students will be required to draft a 1-2 page comment for each presented paper, which will be graded pass/fail. Students must have taken a course in some area of intellectual property, or have work experience in the field, to register for the course.

2 credit(s), Standard Letter GradedRequirement: SkillsConcentration(s): International Law (MSLS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (LLMC), International Law (JD)Prerequisite(s): The only required prerequisite is a spirit of adventure.

The New York Convention establishes a framework for international arbitration. More nations have acceded to the New York Convention than any other treaty in the history of the United Nations. This class will explain the system of international arbitration which has become the preferred method of dispute resolution among businesses throughout the world. The class will feature power point presentations, including photos and music from around the world. We will conduct a mock arbitration based upon a fact pattern of two USD law students who take a trip to Buenos Aires, then build a business extending from San Diego to Argentina, Brazil and beyond. LLM students will learn about an international legal structure and acquire practical skills which will be applicable when they return home (wherever that maybe). 2L and 3L students will learn arbitration law reaching from San Diego, California and the United States into the international arena. Students are graded by the standard letter grading system.

3 credit(s), Standard Letter GradedConcentration(s): International Law (MSLS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (LLMC), Business and Corporate Law (LLMC), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), International Law (JD), Business and Corporate Law (JD)

This is an introductory course on international business law. The course book employed is problem-oriented, focusing student attention on practical problem solving. The course coverage is global, and may include problems related to international sales transactions, letters of credit, customs, import and export trade law, technology transfers across borders, foreign investment law, and international business dispute settlement. Grading is by exam and/or problem sets.

Note: This is a required course for the International Law Concentration (JD).

3 credit(s)Concentration(s): Intellectual Property Law (MSLS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), International Law (LLMC), Intellectual Property (LLMC), International Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), International Law (MSLS)

This course examines international protection of intellectual property. We will discuss international treaties, trade agreements, and dispute resolution systems relating to trademarks, patents, copyrights, and related rights. The course will also cover acquisition and enforcement of intellectual property rights in foreign markets. Prerequisites: None

3 credit(s)Requirement: SkillsConcentration(s): International Law (MSLS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (LLMC), International Law (JD)

The course will include specific materials and skill-building exercises on cross-cultural aspects of the bargaining process. Participants will include lawyers from other nations who are enrolled in USD's LLMC program, and upper class American JD students. Four-tier Pass/Fail grading.

3 credit(s)Requirement: SkillsConcentration(s): International Law (MSLS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (LLMC), Business and Corporate Law (LLMC), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), International Law (JD), Business and Corporate Law (JD)

This course focuses on the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), with comparisons to domestic law (the UCC in particular). Considerable time is devoted to the application of the CISG to problems that typically arise in international sales transactions. The course does not include an exam. Students instead prepare written memos that reflect the type of assignments they can expect in practice with a law firm.

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